It is, of course, generally known to pour fluids from a bottle. Specifically, bottles are generally rigid containers having long, narrow necks with mouths at the top thereof. Bottles may be used for storing liquids therein, which may be poured by tipping the bottles and allowing the fluid to move via gravity through the neck and out the mouth. Indeed, bottle fragments have been found in the earliest human civilizations, and were typically used for storing and dispensing fluids for imbibing, or oils for use in lamps or perfumes and the like.
Bottles are particularly useful for storing wine and are very important to the history of wine development. Specifically, the development of a high quality stoppers such as wooden corks allowed for long-term storage and aging of the wine. In fact, the development of the glass bottle and stopper combination allowed production and storage of wine at the producer instead of at the retailer, which significantly impacted the quality of wine produced and distributed to the paying public.
Pouring wine or another fluid from a bottle can oftentimes lead to messes and wastefulness of product. Because the lip around the mouth of a bottle is typically relatively thick, it is often difficult to ensure that fluids dispensed from a bottle were fully dispensed to a waiting receptacle, such as a wineglass or other receptacle. Oftentimes, fluids, upon dispensing, would stay around the lip of the mouth of the bottle, and eventually drip down the side of the wine bottle, causing mess. In many cases, a dispenser would be required to wipe the mouth of the bottle with a towel to prevent drips from flowing out of the mouth and down the side of the bottle upon dispensing.
Recently, aids for pouring fluids from bottles have been developed to prevent drips and the like during dispensing of the same. For example, U.S. Pat. No. RE38,859 relates to a drip catcher intended for preventing dripping and drops seeping from a bottle orifice during dispensing of the same. The drip catcher consists of a piece of flexible and elastic foil material, preferably plastic material foil having a thickness of 0.1 to 0.2 mm. The diameter of the piece of material may be 60-80 mm. When used as a drip catcher, the piece of material is rolled into an oblong cylindrical form and inserted in the mouth of the bottle. Due to its elasticity the piece of material will positively engage the mouth and constitute a tube-formed outlet spout. Due to the small thickness of the foil material and its liquid-repellant nature, the spout cuts off the jet of fluid dispensed from the bottle very efficiently.
However, the drip catcher, as noted above in U.S. Pat. No. RE38,859 typically is distributed separately from the bottle with which it is used. Thus, unless a supply of drip catchers is handy, a dispenser of the fluid from the bottle will find it necessary to find one prior to use to obtain the benefits of the same.
Moreover, the drip catchers utilized in practice are resilient, and users of the same may be tempted to re-use drip catchers from one bottle to the next. Unless cleaned properly, this may cause contamination of a bottle with bacteria, viruses, fungi or the like, especially if time passes between uses. Moreover, due to the resiliency of the material used for the drip catchers, upon usage of the same it is likely that the drip catchers will be disposed of in garbage receptacles. Typically, the plastics and foils utilized in the construction of the drip catchers will not easily break down in the environment, causing pollution.
A need, therefore, exists for a bottle pouring film apparatus and methods of making and using the same that allows the film apparatus to be provided directly on the bottle to be poured. More specifically, a need exists for a bottle pouring film apparatus that may easily be removed from a bottle and utilized to aid in the pouring of fluids from the same.
In addition, a need exists for a bottle pouring film apparatus that is hygienic, and utilized once prior to degradation of the same. Moreover, a need exists for a bottle pouring film apparatus that prevents the spread of bacteria, viruses, fungi and other like pathogens, from contaminating bottles due to use of the same from one bottle to the next.
Further, a need exists for a bottle pouring film apparatus that degrades upon using the same over a period of time. Still further, a need exists for a bottle pouring film apparatus that may easily break down in landfills to minimize and/or prevent pollution of the same.